Welcome and an Invitation

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 November 2011 20:05

From Nan Hoy Shaw, Founder of eClubSoda

One of my most vivid childhood memories is of the yearly trek we made from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Chicago, Il and then over to Ridgefield, CT. We would visit all of my parents’ families before we would pile in the car and head home again. We would drive for hours and hours…my parents were always in the front seat, and I inhabited the back. At home, we had left my best buddy, Jerry, a loyal and safe German shepherd companion. Oh, did I ever miss him when I was in the backseat of that car. I longed to be able to bury my head in his soft fur as I constantly witnessed the chaos created by the disease of alcoholism in the family.

Sometime around “Happy” Hour, my father would begin to drink and soon his kind, sweet, intelligent nature was replaced by angry and aberrant behavior. My mother would cower in the corner, never knowing when the next blow might occur. I watched in silent horror, hugging my pillow and eating steadily from a big bag of penny candy that I ritualistically filled before each trip. It instantly gave me an artificial jolt of safety and happiness. I knew nowhere else to look. “Happy” Hour was anything but.

As an adult, I wondered why I hid chocolate candy in drawers and shoeboxes! Even after I fought and won my own battle with alcohol addiction, I found myself wolfing down my latest sugar delight, alone in my closet. Absolutely no one knew…just like in the back seat of the car, absolutely no one knew what my needs were in those moments. Especially me. And there was no one available to teach me what to do.

I went through most of my life, unconsciously trying to fill genuine needs in an artificial way. As long as I tried to just stop the behavior, it seemed I was doomed to continue, and my use typically would continue to increase since my true needs were never met.

And because I had lost the ability to communicate with myself, I also had lost the ability to communicate and listen to others. I took so many things personally that were not meant to be that. I scanned for that which might be dangerous, so I lived in a world filled with fear. I was numb to what was happening now...those messages of comfort and discomfort that were meant to guide me straight to health and happiness.

But once I was taught how to identify what my body or spirit actually needed, I found it was usually quite simple to meet the request and feel satisfied at long last! It truly seemed like a miracle to me...to step out of the wanting and into the having!

I believe we are given our experiences to acquire specific information that we are commissioned to pass along. This web site, eClubSoda, is one of the ways I have chosen to share what I have learned, so that others can come out of their dark hiding places and learn how truly to connect with themselves, life and others. We practice this on HappyHour, the daily conference calls where we use technology to make the world a closer, safer, and more encouraging place…where artificial and addictive substances begin to lose their appeal as we learn how to savor the deliciousness of expressing ourselves. It is a true laboratory of learning.

So if you would like to have a better relationship with your spouse, your co-workers, with your friends and family...and even with yourself, please consider learning more about eClubSoda and its new kind of HappyHour, where you can learn how actually to have what you always have been wanting.

And with that in mind, it is my pleasure to invite you to join HappyHour right now and truly have the experience of your life!